Friday, May 16, 2014

Asher (Inked Brotherhood #1) by Jo Raven with Excerpt & Review

ASHER (Inked Brotherhood, #1) RELEASE PARTY AND GIVEAWAY!

WELCOME to the Release Day Party and Giveaway for ASHER (Inked Brotherhood, #1). ASHER is a New Adult contemporary (erotic) romance, by Jo Raven.
We’re celebrating the release with an awesome giveaway with great romance ebooks and gift cards.
To make things even better, the book is on sale for $0.99 for a week only! Go get your copy today.

We’ll be celebrating all day, so join us to read steamy excerpts from ASHER and find out more about his friends who’ll get their own stories very soon!
DON’T FORGET to enter the Rafflecopter and win amazon gift cards and ebooks from awesome authors!

ABOUT ASHER

Now eighteen, Audrey returns to her hometown for the first time
after the accident – the car crash that took her dad and scarred her for life.
She’s here to start again. Go to college and have fun. Make new friends. Get
over the past.

But the past won’t let go. Asher is here – her first kiss, her
first heartbreak. More handsome and distant than ever, he’s still the boy who
used to be her best friend. That was before he changed into someone she hardly
knows anymore – the boy who started getting into fights and gave her the cold
shoulder for years.

Asher isn’t what she needs. In fact, she hates him and should try
her best to keep away from him.

Yet her body doesn’t seem to care about how she feels, and maybe,
just maybe this time her body got it right. Not that she has much of a choice.
Asher draws her like a bright flame, and if she isn’t careful, she’ll burn.

And that may not be such a bad thing after all...

*Warning: this book contains graphic language, sex, and
violence. Mature readers only. Not intended for young adult readers.*

EXCERPT :

“What do you want?” Ash
asks, his voice low and hard. Ah, there’s the anger I missed in his eyes.

“To see you.” He sits down
and looks away.

I make myself move. I step
to the other end of the sofa and sit down. I feel like I had when I played a
theater part during elementary school. Stage fright.

I will the words to come
but there’s a blank forming in my mind where my thoughts should be. Seeing him
from up close is making things worse. My brain is too busy taking in his image,
his beautiful features, his strong body; having its usual short-circuit.

He leans forward, dangling
his hands between his denim-clad knees. His dark hair falls in his face, hiding
his expression. I can’t take my eyes off his long fingers, and the fresh, red
scar on his knuckles. Can’t help thinking he got that saving me.

“You guys want a drink?”
Zane asks, and Dakota — thankfully fully dressed again — is already heading
toward the kitchen as if she owns the place. When neither of us say anything,
Zane shrugs and turns to follow her. Leaving us alone in the room.

“So...” Ash raises his
eyes and licks his lips. God, the gesture sends tingles all over my skin. I
open my mouth to speak but can’t remember what I want to say. My body always
knows how much I want Ash, even when my mind is confused.

“Your ankle seems better,”
he says.

I nod, dumbly. I have to
speak, tell him, ask him... Nothing comes out of my lips. My head is an echoing
empty room. Silence stretches. His dark brows draw together.

“Well, if you have nothing
to say...” He gets up and strides across the living room, leaving me there.

“Wait.” I shoot to my
feet, almost tripping over myself, and hurry after him. I want to say I’m
sorry, but I’ve barely touched his arm when he spins around. Now he advances on
me, his gaze furious, and I back away, shocked.

He pushes me until my back
hits the wall, and then he leans over me. I suddenly have the full length of
his tall, muscled body pressed against me. I put my hands on his chest, pushing
in vain against his rock-hard abs, caught between giddiness and fear.

“Ash...”

“What do you want from
me?” He bites each word out, his hand coming to rest next to my head on the
wall. “What is it you want?”

“I want...” I don’t know.
All I know is I hate the anger in his eyes, hate the tension in his body, the
bruises on his face. I want to hold him. I reach up, brush my fingertips along
his square jaw. “You.”

He blinks, eyes widening.
What have I said? Oh god, I really said it. As it sinks in, I open my mouth to
fix this — but he doesn’t give me the chance.

His bigger hand catches
mine, keeping it on his cheek. Under his skin, I can feel a vein pulsing madly,
his heart pounding.

“You don’t want me,” he
says, his voice hoarse, and his gaze searches mine as if it’s a question and
he’s waiting for an answer. “I’m no good.”

Again that barely there
question mark at the end of his statement. Or maybe I’m imagining it. I’m
caught in his beauty. I love his wolf-like eyes, silver-blue with a darker rim,
shaded by long lashes. And his lips... They’re perfect. I rise on my tiptoes to
kiss them. He’s like gravity, pulling me close.

“You should stay away,” he
says, softly, but his mouth descends on mine, sealing my lips, marking them
with fire. His tongue invades my mouth. He tastes of lightning and dark spice.
He draws me in, and I’m lost and falling, his hard arousal a counterpoint to
the hot throb between my legs. Closer. I want to feel him closer.

My hand drops from his
chest to his hip and snakes around, pressing into the small of his back. Big
mistake. Ash jerks back with a groan and slams his other hand on the wall,
missing my face by an inch.

What the hell?

“Ash, what—?”

“Leave,” he spits and
steps back, away from me. “You were right to hate me, Auds. Stay away.”

I watch him go, my lips
burning, my heart sinking. Like gravity, he lets me think I’m flying only to
let me slam into the ground once again.

My Review: 4 starsThis was a pretty solid first novel. I liked Asher and felt badly for him. He's been through a lot, but no one knows the extent of it until almost the end of the book. Audrey and Asher used to be best friends, until he kissed her and then never spoke to her again. Tragedy forced Audrey to move away, but she's back now. Initially, she is extremely upset when she sees Asher as it brings back a lot of painful memories for her. Asher never thought he'd see Audrey again. His father was his main source of pain and torment for years and told Asher to stay away from Audrey. Asher did it to keep Audrey safe. Too bad he couldn't/wouldn't save himself. Asher has gone through so much, and it's all painful either physically or emotionally. He believes Audrey hates him, but she doesn't. They've both been in love with each other since they were kids, but they're not kids anymore. I really liked Zane and how protective of Asher he was. Tessa was a great friend to both Asher and Audrey. I was glad that Audrey took a stand where her Mom was concerned. There was a whole lot to like about this book, and I think that as the series goes on it will only get better. Good job, Jo, I can't wait for more!

Inked Brotherhood Series

Five boys brought together by fate. Five young men trying to overcome their troubled pasts. Five tattoos marking them as a brotherhood built on tragedy. Will they find understanding and rise above the pain?
Five girls tied by friendship. Five young women fighting their own demons. Five lives laced with sorrow. Will they be strong enough to save the men they love and make them happy?
The series composes of five interconnected, stand-alone novels: Asher, Tyler, Zane, Dylan and Rafe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jo Raven writes New Adult erotic contemporary romance. She loves sexy bad boys and strong-willed heroines, and divides her time between writing and reading. When not cooking up plots, she putters in her cluttered kitchen and dreams of traveling to India and Japan.